Mr. Antisdel mentioned yesterday that we’re missing an important category in eBizine…Strategy. Or more specifically strategy as it relates to the Internet as a marketplace.

In an e-mail exchange Stephen wrote, “this is the essential starting point for all of our client engagements. WorkingPerson.com, www.workingperson.com, is our case-study client that illustrates the importance and potential of great strategy and execution: Inc 500 this year; Internet Retailer Top 50; Hot 100 Best Web Sites, etc, etc.”

He’s offered to share his thoughts with us in an interview which will be published sometime in the future. In preparation for that we thought we’d take this opportunity to give you an opportunity to learn more about Mr. Antisdel.

Stephen Antisdel is the managing director of AVID Commerce, LLC, an e-commerce technology, strategy and marketing firm.  He leads the company’s strategic consultancy and is a co-developer of the firm’s AVID Commerce technologies.

His experience spans over 20 years of management know-how at the tumultuous intersection of retailing and technology.  As the CEO of FurnitureFind.com, he launched and then led the online business through a period of explosive growth, multiple financing events, a merger, a management led buy-back, venture capital equity financing and the successful sale of the company.

His business and e-commerce innovations have been covered by Newsweek, Time, The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, Business 2.0, Business Week, Inc. Magazine, Home Furnishings News, HighPoints, Furniture World, Narda News, Furniture Today, Edward Lowe PeerSpectives, InFurniture, and National Public Radio.

A noted speaker and presenter, he has been privileged to share his business and management insights in the U.S. and abroad to conferences, trade groups, businesses, and universities, including:

• CEMA Conference (Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association)
• NARDA Institute of Business Management
• Hewlett-Packard’s “Doing Business at Internet Speed” conference in Palo Alto
• The Furniture/Today Leadership Conference
• International Quality and Productivity Center Conferences in Atlanta and London
• University of Michigan Business School Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies
• Indiana University, South Bend
• Notre Dame University, Mendoza School of Business
• International Conference of Better Business Bureaus

Under Mr. Antisdel’s leadership, FurnitureFind.com was picked by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in America from 1998 to 2002, winning an “Inc. 500” award in 2003.

His education includes an MBA from Leicester University, (England; www.le.ac.uk); completion of the NARDA School of Business Management program, and the Center for Strategic Planning program in conjunction with Michigan State University. He is an Adjunct Professor at Indiana Institute of Technology’s College of Professional Studies.

We look forward to hearing from Mr. Antisdel soon.